A folktale is a story orally handed down from one generation to another. Not only are people characters in these stories, but animals are portrayed with human traits. Each story has a theme. Folktales differ from fairytales. Fairy tales have an element of magic and good triumphs over evil.
The following YouTube video displays examples of many different types of folktales, fairy tales, myths and legends that can be used with students of all ages.
Every country has folktales. American folktales include stories, like, Johnny Appleseed, Pecos Bill, Paul Bunyan. Here is a link to a list of folktales from all nations. The following books can be used as mentor texts to study of American folktales.
Front Cover
This book is about the life of John Chapman, who became known as Johnny Appleseed. This legendary man was famous for his distribution of apple seeds and the trees he planted as he explored the frontier. His main characteristics were his love of nature, kindness to animals and his physical endurance.
Pecos Bill
This book is about Pecos Bill, a cowboy, who was raised by coyotes. His extraordinary experiences include taming rattlesnakes and wrestling dangerous animals.
Paul Bunyan 20th Anniversary Edition (Reading rainbow book)
Paul Bunyan is about the life of an unusual lumberjack whose outrageous size and strength brought him many adventures includes finding a blue ox named Babe and experiences with other lumberjacks in South Dakota and California.
Paul Bunyan with Babe, The Blue Ox
The American Folktale usually has a hero. The events in the story are grossly exaggerated. The characters exhibit courage, physical strength, cleverness, hardwork, or determination.
That's a GREAT Answer!
That's a Great Answer! by Nancy Boyles is an excellent teacher's resource to introduce the American Folktales' genre and its characteristics. This book is aligned with the Common Core State Standards. In third grade, students are expected to recount stories including fables, folktales and myths from diverse cultures.
This link from Read/Write/Think Read/Write/Think provides teacher resources and lessons to teach American folktales to students. One lesson from this link involves using a Timeline Tool to organize details about Johnny Appleseed's life. Another lesson includes a jigsaw character study of the various main characters in American folktale stories. The following link provides graphic organizersthat students can use to summarize or compare/contrast stories.
The following links offer folktales via e-books for students.
Many cultures have folktales. Folktales from other cultures differ from American Folktales in that they usually have animals with human characteristics and there is a trickster. Examples of folktales from other cultures follow. The books mentioned can be used as teacher and/or student resources depending on the age of the students.
The Little Red Hen
An English Folktale
This story is about a Little Red Hen who lives with a goose, a cat, and a dog. The goose, cat and dog are lazy and do nothing to help the Little Red Hen. She has to do all the work. When she finds some grains of wheat and asks for help to plant the seeds, the goose, cat and dog refuse. Once the plant grows, she uses it to make bread. The goose, cat and dog offer to help because they want some bread. The Little Red Hen refuses to let them because she did all work.
The Four Friends: A Bhutanese Folktale
A Bhutanese Folktale
An Elephant, Monkey, Rabbit and Partridge live in a magical land. They share a friendship, but an argument threatens to destroy their friendship. At the same time, a monsoon could ruin their home.
The Turnip
A Russian Folktale
Dedoushka planted a turnip seed. It grew so big that it was too big to pull out. Dedoushka and his wife, Baboushka, can't pull it out of the ground. Other characters are asked to help and everyone pulls together.
Children learn about other cultures by reading folktales.
Cultural Awareness and Folktales
Students can journey beyond the borders of their everyday environment in an exploration of world cultures by reading folktales from different countries/cultures. Having the opportunity to read folktales from other cultures will enrich student's cultural awareness. As a result, students can reflect on human nature and the values of other societies in the world. By reading folktales from other cultures, students will make connections to their own lives and learn there are universal themes. Students can be taught about morality and have exposure to their own heritage through reading folktales. According to Jane Yolen's book, Touch Magic, folktales teaches children about other cultures and their morals. Alexis Tuckfelt believes students should be exposed to folktales because folktales teach lessons in life from cultures from around the world.
This voki character explains of his favorite folktale:
Resources for lessons on reading and writing folktales can be found on the link . Here are examples of lessons to try: Small groups of students are assigned one of three folk tales from African, Japanese, or Welsh cultures. Students read the tale aloud together and use a story sequence graphic organizer to record the most important events from the story. After reading the story, students create a visual representation of the story in the form of a collage, comic book, or some other creative method. Students then conduct online research to find information about their assigned culture. In a culminating activity, students retell their folk tale using the visual representation and then summarize the research they compiled. Students give one another feedback on their oral presentations.
Once students have had these literacy experiences with folktales, they can make connections to other content areas like geography, social studies, and writing. Folktales have some historical accuracy and display cultural behavior during a particular time period. Folktales show people/animals expressing emotion in a socially acceptable way. Folktales can help students with social development. After reading a folktale, the teacher can approach topics, like anger and bias, to discuss socially appropriate behavior in a particular situation.
What is a folktale?
Page created by LeaA folktale is a story orally handed down from one generation to another. Not only are people characters in these stories, but animals are portrayed with human traits. Each story has a theme. Folktales differ from fairytales. Fairy tales have an element of magic and good triumphs over evil.
The following YouTube video displays examples of many different types of folktales, fairy tales, myths and legends that can be used with students of all ages.
Every country has folktales. American folktales include stories, like, Johnny Appleseed, Pecos Bill, Paul Bunyan. Here is a link to a list of folktales from all nations.
The following books can be used as mentor texts to study of American folktales.
This book is about the life of John Chapman, who became known as Johnny Appleseed. This legendary man was famous for his distribution of apple seeds and the trees he planted as he explored the frontier. His main characteristics were his love of nature, kindness to animals and his physical endurance.
This book is about Pecos Bill, a cowboy, who was raised by coyotes. His extraordinary experiences include taming rattlesnakes and wrestling dangerous animals.
Paul Bunyan is about the life of an unusual lumberjack whose outrageous size and strength brought him many adventures includes finding a blue ox named Babe and experiences with other lumberjacks in South Dakota and California.
That's a Great Answer! by Nancy Boyles is an excellent teacher's resource to introduce the American Folktales' genre and its characteristics. This book is aligned with the Common Core State Standards. In third grade, students are expected to recount stories including fables, folktales and myths from diverse cultures.
This link from Read/Write/Think Read/Write/Think provides teacher resources and lessons to teach American folktales to students. One lesson from this link involves using a Timeline Tool to organize details about Johnny Appleseed's life. Another lesson includes a jigsaw character study of the various main characters in American folktale stories. The following link provides graphic organizersthat students can use to summarize or compare/contrast stories.
The following links offer folktales via e-books for students.
Starfall
Folktales
Folktales from Other Cultures
Many cultures have folktales. Folktales from other cultures differ from American Folktales in that they usually have animals with human characteristics and there is a trickster. Examples of folktales from other cultures follow. The books mentioned can be used as teacher and/or student resources depending on the age of the students.This story is about a Little Red Hen who lives with a goose, a cat, and a dog. The goose, cat and dog are lazy and do nothing to help the Little Red Hen. She has to do all the work. When she finds some grains of wheat and asks for help to plant the seeds, the goose, cat and dog refuse. Once the plant grows, she uses it to make bread. The goose, cat and dog offer to help because they want some bread. The Little Red Hen refuses to let them because she did all work.
An Elephant, Monkey, Rabbit and Partridge live in a magical land. They share a friendship, but an argument threatens to destroy their friendship. At the same time, a monsoon could ruin their home.
Dedoushka planted a turnip seed. It grew so big that it was too big to pull out. Dedoushka and his wife, Baboushka, can't pull it out of the ground. Other characters are asked to help and everyone pulls together.
Cultural Awareness and Folktales
Students can journey beyond the borders of their everyday environment in an exploration of world cultures by reading folktales from different countries/cultures. Having the opportunity to read folktales from other cultures will enrich student's cultural awareness. As a result, students can reflect on human nature and the values of other societies in the world. By reading folktales from other cultures, students will make connections to their own lives and learn there are universal themes. Students can be taught about morality and have exposure to their own heritage through reading folktales. According to Jane Yolen's book, Touch Magic, folktales teaches children about other cultures and their morals. Alexis Tuckfelt believes students should be exposed to folktales because folktales teach lessons in life from cultures from around the world.This voki character explains of his favorite folktale:
Resources for lessons on reading and writing folktales can be found on the link .
Here are examples of lessons to try:
Small groups of students are assigned one of three folk tales from African, Japanese, or Welsh cultures. Students read the tale aloud together and use a story sequence graphic organizer to record the most important events from the story. After reading the story, students create a visual representation of the story in the form of a collage, comic book, or some other creative method. Students then conduct online research to find information about their assigned culture. In a culminating activity, students retell their folk tale using the visual representation and then summarize the research they compiled. Students give one another feedback on their oral presentations.
Once students have had these literacy experiences with folktales, they can make connections to other content areas like geography, social studies, and writing. Folktales have some historical accuracy and display cultural behavior during a particular time period. Folktales show people/animals expressing emotion in a socially acceptable way. Folktales can help students with social development. After reading a folktale, the teacher can approach topics, like anger and bias, to discuss socially appropriate behavior in a particular situation.